In the second part of the month’s Testing the Limits, Ilari Henrik Aegerter, Iain McCowatt, Johan Jonasson and Henrik Andersson of the International Society for Software Testing discuss the group’s founding members, the motivation behind their “Common Sense Testing” approach and some great advice for new and seasoned testers.
Be sure to read Part I of this great interview!
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uTest: Your founding members list is quite impressive. Was it difficult getting all those amazing testers on board and in agreement about the basic philosophy of the group?
Iain: Well, as you can imagine – with a group like that – we got some bloody hard questions! What blew me away though was the response we got, the level of belief that change is needed.
Johan: What brings the founding members together is a belief in the potential of ISST. What I really enjoyed when we started reaching out to them is that so many of them immediately went into “testing mode” and started questioning our motives, mission and plan for the future. We absolutely encourage continuous questioning and transparency as part of our basic philosophy and I think that’s one of the key things that earned us this incredible initial support.
Ilari: All of the above. And it was quite impressive to see how different the questions were. We are very grateful for the trust the founding members are putting into the ISST becoming a successful society.
Henke: ISST is nothing without our members. When we started reaching out to such a prominent group of testers of course we expected the Spanish Inquisition. However those questions quickly turned into optimism and creative thinking as to what shape our members would like the ISST to take. Our founding members are truly excited and energised about ISST.
uTest: The URL for the society is “Common Sense Testing,” explain that concept and why you back it.
Ilari: I am going to steal the words of Iain here because he said it beautifully: “Common sense is unfortunately not too common.” We want to emphasize the importance of skillful thinking and we believe that Common Sense Testing conveys that.
Iain: Yeah, I’m not sure I didn’t borrow that from somewhere myself. I suspect for me, and it’s a little ironic, that it goes back to a conversation I had with Rex Black, hardly noted as an advocate for context driven testing. He told me that, as far he is concerned, context driven testing is just common sense. I don’t disagree, but have seen such a remarkable lack of common sense over the years I feel we could do with more common sense in testing.
Henke: Common sense is something that many shrug their shoulders at, just as Rex did in Iain’s story. It is not valued as a skill or something that needs attention, it is considered to be there anyway. However common sense is just not built in to your brain by magic. It is something that we all need to actively practise. We can agree in discussion that many things are common sense but when looking at our behaviours and decisions find that they are not congruent with this. This is a huge problem in our industry and ISST wants to take common sense from being two shallow words into real and hardcore action.
uTest: Unfortunately, too many companies undervalue QA and testers. How should QA departments go about proving to executives that their work holds a lot of value?
Iain: A lot of testers complain that their stakeholders don’t see the value of their work. Perhaps the first question for a tester to ask is…does it have any value TO MY STAKEHOLDERS? The product of testing is information, and if the information it provides is not relevant to what stakeholders need, then it is of no value.
Ilari: Maybe they should start with not calling themselves QA. What is wrong with the title “Tester?” Instead of coming up with fancy job titles, test departments should seek to provide value with courage and candor. Don’t talk about how important you are. Executives might rather want to hear what testing does for them, what information it gives them, what risks are mitigated.
Henke: Call me old and bitter but unfortunately I believe that is true. Many testing teams do not provide value to their stakeholders, infact they have no clue who their stakeholders even are, let alone what they might want or need. Instead of complaining they need to sharpen their skills and understanding of testing – then it will become clear to them how they can increase their value as a testers.
uTest: Testing has experienced a lot of trends and fads. Why is context driven testing different? How do you feel about trends as a whole?
Iain: If emphazing the role of skill to seek to understand and solve problems is a fad, then we’re all doomed. Thankfully, I don’t see this as a fad. Such things offer a silver bullet, an easy answer, and thrive because of wishful thinking…people want to believe, because they want an easy answer. In many ways, context driven testing is the hard answer – you need to think, and invest in your people.
Johan: The difference lies in the fact that we’re focus on principles and not specific practices. Some tools and practices become popular very quickly, until something better or more interesting comes along. Principles, on the other hand, endure. That’s not to say that principles can’t evolve and, in fact, the context-driven principles as they were originally written could probably do with a critical review. But the underlying values that they attempt to communicate are built to last.
Henke: Clueless people just follow trends. People with some sort of self respect and integrity figure out what is best for them and do that, sometimes that happens to be the same as the current trend but the underlying reasons are very different.
Ilari: Let me put it this way: When I was young in the Eighties, there used to be elastic Jeans with a white stripe on the outside of both legs; a horrible fashion that would today be an instant fail. Classical English goodyear-welted shoes, on the other hand, will never be a fashion, never be a “trend.” They have a timeless quality. Context-driven testing originates in the same sense of craftsmanship and therefore won’t fade away.
uTest: Is there one piece of advice that pertains to both new and seasoned testers?
Johan: Always be on the lookout for new influences and knowledge that can help you become a better tester, but never check your brain at the door. Use your own judgement and think for yourself to determine what’s truly useful and what’s just noise. Be a tester.
Ilari: Learn how to use your brain and grow your critical thinking. Then go and apply it.
Henke: Don’t be afraid to share your ideas, thoughts and work with others. It can get a bit turbulent sometimes but if you keep things to yourself you will miss out on many great opportunities to get feedback and to learn from others. This is also a way to get noticed and respected as a tester. Our community develops by discussions and challenging ideas and we are here for you!